LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:LZ) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $9.25.

LZ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price target on LegalZoom.com from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings cut LegalZoom.com from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $6.00 price target (down from $9.00) on shares of LegalZoom.com in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on LegalZoom.com from $14.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Zacks Research raised LegalZoom.com from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd.

LegalZoom.com Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of LZ opened at $6.43 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $6.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.33. LegalZoom.com has a 1-year low of $5.28 and a 1-year high of $12.40.

LegalZoom.com (NASDAQ:LZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $206.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $202.14 million. LegalZoom.com had a return on equity of 11.53% and a net margin of 1.46%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.13 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that LegalZoom.com will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

LegalZoom.com declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 19th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 8.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at LegalZoom.com

In other LegalZoom.com news, CEO Jeffrey M. Stibel bought 125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $6.15 per share, with a total value of $768,750.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,955,609 shares in the company, valued at $18,176,995.35. The trade was a 4.42% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Nicole Miller sold 23,325 shares of LegalZoom.com stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.63, for a total value of $154,644.75. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 813,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,390,408.79. This trade represents a 2.79% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 57,524 shares of company stock valued at $377,724 in the last 90 days. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LegalZoom.com

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of LegalZoom.com by 60.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,170,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,528,000 after buying an additional 817,462 shares in the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of LegalZoom.com by 43.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 1,281,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,305,000 after buying an additional 390,742 shares in the last quarter. Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC bought a new stake in shares of LegalZoom.com in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $18,106,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of LegalZoom.com in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,304,000. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of LegalZoom.com by 87.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 613,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,092,000 after buying an additional 287,063 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.99% of the company’s stock.

About LegalZoom.com

LegalZoom.com, Inc (NASDAQ: LZ) operates as a leading online legal technology company that provides a broad range of legal and business services to individuals, families and small businesses. Through its digital platform, the company offers customized legal documents and filing services, including business formation (LLCs, corporations and nonprofits), estate planning (wills and trusts), intellectual property protection (trademarks and copyrights), and ongoing compliance support. LegalZoom also connects customers with independent attorneys for consultations on matters such as family law, immigration and real estate.

Founded in 2001 by entrepreneurs Brian Lee, Brian P.